There wasn't much left of Daniel Briere's voice. The veteran Montreal Canadiens forward had been turned into a cheerleader, sitting on the Canadiens bench for most of the third period of their Game 7 victory over the Boston Bruins, cooling his heels despite having set up the crucial first goal two minutes into the game.

Each game of this Atlantic Division final has had its own particular characteristics: low scoring, high scoring, lots of penalties, no penalties, great goaltending, questionable goaltending, stars going invisible, stars delivering wins.

As the personality of a series takes shape, grows from game to game, the really good ones have two teams adapting and changing, emphasizing their strengths while working at squeezing the areas where the opponents live and breathe.

There are many facets of this post-season Montreal Canadiens team that have been evolving into an interesting story on an NHL playoff stage cluttered with many of them, including improbable outcomes and the apparently unbearable weight of the two-goal lead.